It's phone upgrading season, and if you're industrious, you might be looking to sell your phone on eBay or craigslist or pass it on to your snot-mouthed little brother. Whatever, it's going; it's gone; fare thee well, you old piece of junk!

But please oh please oh please don't forget to wipe your data before your phone changes hands. Here's a quick guide for anyone who might need it, so you're not fumbling through options and settings for half the day.

iPhone

First, you should probably back up your phone using iTunes

Go to Settings

From there, go to General

Now go to Reset

Select Erase All Content and Settings

You'll be prompted to enter your passcode at this point

It will take a few minutes, unless you've got a fairly ancient iOS device

Android

Backing up for Android is relatively straightforward; just connect your phone to your computer via USB and drag all of your files into a new folder.

Pull down your Menu and go to Settings

Scroll to Privacy

Click Factory data reset

Windows Phone 7 and 7.5

Back up with Zune software if you're on Windows, but there's currently no way to totally back up your SMS texts for Windows Phone, so keep that in mind if you like to keep hang onto your messages.